Heterogeneity in definitions of surgical site infection after cranial surgery limits the validity of research findings in neurosurgery: a systematic review.

Surgical site infections after cranial surgery (SSI-CRAN) are serious adverse events considering the vicinity of the wound to the central nervous system. Variability in outcome definitions can hinder the ability to produce reliable evidence. This systematic review aimed to investigate whether there is variation in SSI-CRAN definitions across studies and its impact on the identification of effective treatments for patients after cranial surgery.